the threads of memory

The Swedish psychologist Timo M ntyl has carried out some interesting experiments on the importance of cues . In his thesis How Do You Cue? he describes how the ˜guinea-pigs created their own cues to certain words, which they were given to remember in the test. The result was amazing.

In order to activate the memory we need some sort of trigger word or cue. You will get these cues talking to someone, in pictures, notes, free associations, events, places, etc. When you start creating such cues deliberately you are on your way to using memorizing techniques. It is your ability to create such cues that will determine how well you will be able to recall the words you have learned. If the cue is to be really effective it has to be present at the ˜coding of the new words and when you are going to retrieve the information from the long- term memory.

There are certain criteria that a cue should meet: it should be unique and you must be able to retrieve it. The cue is connected to the characteristics of the initial word and the associations you get from it.

Timo M ntyl s experiment showed amazingly good results, even several weeks after the actual test.

In the first the research groups were asked to add three cue words of their own to each word in the test list. They got 20 seconds for each word. If they got the word ˜zebra one person might have written the following words on his list: ˜savannah , ˜ stripes and ˜Africa . Another person might have written: ˜black/white , ˜pedestrian crossing and ˜traffic .

Later, when they were asked to remember the words on the memory list, they were only allowed to look at their own cues. It appeared that the result was as high as 95 per cent and at another control several weeks later the result was just as high again!

When compared with other groups where the participants did not have access to cues, the difference was enormous .

Now let s try the same type of test. On page 105 you will find 30 words. Use about 20 seconds on each word to write down three cues on a piece of paper. When you have done all 30, put the book aside and do something else for a while not thinking about the list of words. After some time take out the cues again “ don t look at the words in this book! “ and write down as many of the initial 30 words as possible.

Do the same thing once more two or three weeks later and see how many words you remember.